Kurdistan Weekly Brief November 1

Turkey

Kurdish politicians and officials continue to be arrested. Both co-mayors of Diyarbakir (Amed) metropolitan, Gultan Kishanak and Firat Anli, were arrested and later taken into custody. The detained Kurdish officials were charged with “membership [in a] terror organization” and “administration of [a] terror organization.” The Co-chair of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtash described the charges against the Kurdish officials as “an utter lie.”In a press conference, Demirtash also said “They shall give us [back] everything they have stolen and confiscated from us. We demand the return of our co-mayors to their positions, and the return of the people’s will. We will not accept any other option. We will not bow down, and we will continue standing up. Everyone will take to the streets and take no steps back until we attain a result.” Another 18 Kurdish politicians and journalists were also detained mainly in the Kurdish province of Diyarbakir while the government shut down internet service in several Kurdish cities. The Turkish government also imposed a ban from traveling on the HDP’s Co-chair Figen Yuksekdag on charges of “supporting terrorists.”

Syria

Clashes continue between Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Turkish-backed Islamic factions in northern Aleppo. After the SDF had liberated Tell Madeeq from ISIS, the Turkish-backed groups started heavily shelling the town with mortars and missiles in an attempt to wrest control of the area from the SDF. The Turkish-backed groups also began bombing Hasiya, Om Hosh, Om al-Qura, Harbal and Sheikh Issa villages in the Shahba area (Northern Aleppo). On October 31, Jayesh Al Thwar a faction within the SDF liberated two more villages from ISIS: Ta’anan and Shiekh Al Kif. SDF factions are only 20km far from the strategic town of Al-Bab.

In the town of Rajo, northwest of Afrin, three civilians were wounded while protesting the Turkish intervention in Syria. The Turkish army attacked the civilians with water hoses and tear gas. In the Shiekh Maqsoud neighborhood of Aleppo, extremist factions ended a two-week cessation of bombardments by relaunching mortar and rocket attacks on the area.

Iraq

As the Mosul liberation operation continues, Peshmerga forces gained more ground against ISIS. Last week Peshmerga forces were able to seize more villages near Bashiqa while Iraq’s anti-terrorism units advanced closer to the city. A senior Peshmerga officer was killed while trying to defuse a mine. Earlier this week several Kurdish officials announced that although Peshmerga forces would not enter the city of Mosul, they would not retreat from the liberated areas that belong to the Kurdistan region.

After the October 21st deadly attack, Kirkuk’s security forces killed ten more ISIS fighters who were trying to retreat toward Haweja. With local help, Kirkuk’s police raided two ISIS groups of five individuals each in the Yarinja villages. According to security sources, a total of 90 ISIS fighters have been killed in Kirkuk since October 21.

Iran

Middle East Research Institute (MERI) hosted Kurdish opposition leaders from Iranian Kurdistan (Rojhelat) to discuss the future of the Kurdish people in Iran. Leaders of both factions of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP-I), Society of Revolutionary Toilers of Iranian Kurdistan (Komala), and Kurdish Communist Party called for unity among the Kurdish party to face the Iranian regime. During the panel, Kurdish leaders disagreed of the type of engagement should be done against the regime while some called for armed struggle, others called for civil resistance to obligate the regime to the negotiation table.